Staff Reporter :Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha said that absence of rule of law, liberty and freedom of expression has created unrest in the society hindering smooth functioning of the fair judicial system and democratic practices in Bangladesh. He came up with the observation while speaking at a publication ceremony of monthly magazine “Bangladesh Legal Times” at the Hotel Radisson in the city on Friday. He said, terrorism has broke-out in this century in different forms due to social unrest and absence of rule of law. The chief justice hoped the magazine would discuss serious legal matters, issues of social injustice and other related issues to craft a fair judicial system, establish rule of law and rights of the people.Law Minister Anisul Huq and Legal Times Editor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh editor of the magazine also spoke at the ceremony. Publisher of the magazine Banglar Bani organised the program.Justices from the Appellate and High Court divisions, Dhaka South City Corporation mayor, parliament members, government high officials and eminent lawyers were also present.Law Minister said, the mass media will criticize constructively that will forward the people and the country to prosperity. This kind of legal magazines is very important for the time we are living. The chief justice said the people of Bangladesh face significant hurdles in accessing the judicial system.”Vulnerable groups, including the poor, women, children, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities face particular exclusion. Throughout the formal justice system, there is a significant lack of capacity within the judiciary, relevant ministries and statutory bodies.”The chief justice said there are some specific constraints on access to justice. Those include prohibitive costs, corruption and undue influence and lack of awareness of legal rights.SK Sinha noted that one of the main reasons behind case backlog is “awful shortage” of judges in both tiers of the judiciary and lack of infrastructure.He said the country now has 1,600 judges. The number is too meager and inadequate for a country with a population of 16 crore. If the number of judges is not doubled, no dramatic change can be expected.”There are some lawyer who develop their mentality in commercialisation of the noble profession. They are not interested in giving due attention to ‘substantive matters’ such as first appeals or writs.”We always discover serious flaws in plaints, written statements, writ petitions and even in the bail petitions and injunction petitions. The quality of drafting legal instruments is degrading day by day.”Lawyers are interested in injunction and bail matters, and it’s hard to find adequate number of lawyers to deal with “substantive matters”, he said.”If this continues, I do apprehend that judiciary will be in peril within 20 to 25 years and as a result, the rule of law which is the foundation of democracy will be a far cry.” “Poverty, anxiety and discrimination are other causes that helped rise in terrorism in the society. Bangladesh is a peace loving country. We are determined to fight against terrorism. We have taken every steps to root out terrorism from the country,” he said. There are terrorism more or less in all country in the world. Terrorism is the brutal enemy of the humanity. This is ruining happiness and peace of the society. Terrorism is not a diseases, it is rather a symptom. “Terrorism can sneak into a country if there are lack of rule of law,” he said. “Terrorists do not have any nation they are threat for all humanity. We have to build a discrimination free society to stop this ill-forces,” he said.
